


Arbor Day

by FreakHour



Series: Sweet as Hale [37]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family AU, Gen, Hale Family Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 15:03:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4671110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreakHour/pseuds/FreakHour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sweet as Hale was begun on tumblr (http://halefamilyfic.tumblr.com) because eeames wanted some Hale Family stuff. I thought. Why not? This all happened. I admit my take on everything is definitely not s3 compliant and... It just never will be. These are pre-fire Hales. I treat it very much like if the Cosbys were Werewolves. They are a fun family how I write them. The Dad is Alec, please imagine him played by Joe Flanigan. (you should totally go to the tumblr an enjoy the imageset header eeames made it is A+++) Everyone else you know except their baby Eric. In the Hale Family only Alec and Eric are human. I hope you enjoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arbor Day

Amazingly enough, one of the biggest holidays in the Hale house, or as Alec used to call them – Haleadays, was Arbor Day. When your mom is an Environmental engineer, it makes a lot of sense that your family would be into it – especially when they’re mostly werewolves. Werewolves were big on trees and forests. The amazing thing was, a lot of residents of Beacon Hills not only enjoyed the preserve, but also got really into Arbor Day. That was in no small part due to the fact that Talia went all out every Arbor Day. Tree seedlings were brought in so everyone who wanted to help had a tree to plant – not just in the preserve but in the local parks she helped oversee and fight for the funding of. The other huge draw for Arbor Day was the party the Hales threw in the main city park right next to the Town Hall and the Sheriff’s Station. And party it was, not only was Alec manning a grill but so was Peter, the pair of them giving narrow eyed glares at one another as they fought each other tooth and tong for the hearts of the townsfolk.

 

Derek and Laura were both acting as Mom’s hands because she was enormously pregnant. Alec had campaigned pretty hard for her to have a much more relaxing Arbor Day but no – Talia will not be denied. So Alec had made a deal with her and his seven year old son and ten year old daughter. Talia could do NO HEAVY LIFTING, she had to stay in Alec’s sight, and she needed to let the kids do all her running and carrying for her. Derek is always a real helper bee but Laura gets into because Talia made them up safety sashes with  _badges_. Laura has a thing for badges. She is known to follow any deputy or the Sheriff around and ask to see them, much to the chagrin of whatever parent is with her. So that Laura not only gets a bright orange sash but also a  _silver tree badge_  – well, she is beside herself with satisfaction.

“Laura.” Talia called to her daughter, smiling when she scampers to her side.

“Yes Momma?” Laura asks brightly, rubbing her sleeve over her  _shiny badge_  because she is  _so official_.

Talia chuckles, “Can you bring me a couple of the maple saplings and a redbud, Baby?”

Laura nods and runs over to where Derek is guarding the saplings, not that they need it but it lets him get over his short periods of moping he can’t hang out with his Dad. She pulls out two maples and starts to drag them back to her mother, she could carry them but this is also part of growing up a werewolf, keeping it a secret! But it was days like this when Laura wondered why. There wasn’t a single person in town who didn’t smile at any of her family. Miss Penny, the kindergarten teacher, still said wistfully that Derek would have made a better fiancée than the one she had now. It never failed to make Derek blush and hide behind his Dad’s legs. Laura delivered the maple saplings and skipped back over for the redbud and some more of the assorted fir saplings since another Preserve hiking group was about to go out.

Derek walked back with her, his arms full of all the saplings Laura could pile on him. They stacked them up on the table next to their mom and Laura pushed Derek to go get lunch for Talia, he was happy to comply since it meant talking to Alec! Laura stood by her mom and polished her badge.

“Hey kiddo, nice badge!” The Sheriff smiled and winked at her.

Laura lit up like a firework, “Hi Sheriff!!! I like your badge too! You come to get a tree to plant?”

The Sheriff nodded, “Of course! A nice maple is supposed to go in right in front of the Station. Someone thought I should do it myself.”

Laura grinned at Mrs. Stilinski or Mrs. Sheriff as she liked to call her. She had just had her baby and it was a wiggly mess in her arms and smelled a lot like baby powder and peanut butter. Talia ooed and aahed over the baby Stilinski, none of them attempting the name again because it made Mrs. Sheriff laugh so hard. Talia had told Laura not to exhaust Mrs. Sheriff, she had no idea why – Mrs. Sheriff liked to exhaust herself plenty! She did look plenty tired after having the baby. Laura privately hoped Flibbertygibbit, as she liked to think of him, was worth it. She’d called the baby that once and the Sheriff had laughed so hard he cried.

Laura slipped her hand into the Sheriff’s, “C’mon. You have a badge so you get to pick out which one you want. We’ll pick the  _best one_.” Laura nodded and winked at him, the Sheriff letting himself be led away docilely. When they got to where all the saplings were waiting Laura showed him every maple they had but the Sheriff’s eye was really caught by the Northern Walnut.

“Does it really grow walnuts?” The Sheriff asked Laura.

Laura folded her arms to look official. She actually had no idea. She was only pulling plants based on the name written on their tags and… The Sheriff was  _supposed to_  get a maple. Everyone on this street got maple. Her momma had a  _map_. But the Sheriff really liked the Walnut.

“I think so?” Laura replied, tilting her head to look up at him, “But Momma says you’re supposed to get a maple…”

The Sheriff nodded, “Right… Maple… Like everyone else. I do like Walnuts though… Eating them too. Wouldn’t that be fun to pick walnuts right out of a tree on Main Street?”

Laura thought that over. She also thought over how much hard work the Sheriff did. And his badge. And… And she really liked the idea of picking a walnut on Main Street and eating it. Laura looked around and whispered, “Maybe you can have a walnut…”

The Sheriff grinned, “Won’t your mom say no?”

“Maybe….?” Laura says, “But maybe we can do it anyway?” She pulled off a maple tag but handed a walnut sapling to the Sheriff. “You take that over and I’ll hand in the tag. If we’re lucky Momma won’t notice because of Flibber… I mean because of the baby.”

The Sheriff laughed and pets her hair, “Thanks Laura! If I’m still Sheriff when you grow up you should come work for me. I’ll hire you in a hot second.”

Laura laughed brightly, “Even when this is naughty!??!”

The Sheriff winked, “That’ll be our secret – plus the statute of limitations would have run out by then.”

Laura giggled and ran back to her mom, handing in the tag and pointing to where the Sheriff was carrying his sapling towards the Sheriff’s Station.

Talia dutifully marked it in her ledger and went back to talking to Mrs. Sheriff as Derek appeared, walking slowly with the full plate of food his Dad had sent for his wife. Talia paused in her talking to thank Derek for the food and to send them both to Alec to be fed. The kids ran to the grills, leaving their mom to talk conservancy with Mrs. Sheriff who was once Miss Librarian.

It wasn’t until several months after Cora was born and Talia was strolling with her husband to her office to pick something up that they passed under the very enthusiastically growing walnut tree in front of the Sheriff’s Station that Talia became privy to the switch. By then it was too late to undo and she looked up at it in slight horror.

“What’s the big deal?” Alec asked, Laura pretending to be dead and disinterested.

“The big deal,” Talia sighed, “Is that it’s supposed to be big leaf maple all down this street… and the Walnut? It’s going to make a mess right here, dropping flowers, all the pollen, then the nuts! IF the squirrels leave any… Not to mention the stupid things spend almost eight months without leaves… What was he thinking…” Talia rubbed her forehead and sighed.

“Well… He was probably thinking he’d get to sit out here with a nutcracker and eat walnuts.” Alec said. “It’s what I would have thought before your rant.”

Talia gave him a look and leaned in to kiss Cora where she was asleep in the sling against Alec’s chest, Laura and Derek holding their parents’ hands. “Well… I hope he enjoys it. I’m not cutting it down.”

Alec laughed, “I’m going to build a bench for the Town Hall.”

“What? Why?” Talia gave him an odd look, she was often giving them to Alec but they were always loving also.

“I want somewhere to sit and watch the Sheriff fight over nuts with a horde of squirrels.” Alec said blandly, but he grinned when Talia broke into hysterical laughter.


End file.
